1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a management system for managing various devices and a technique relating to such a system.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, in a management system for managing image-forming devices such as MFPs (management target devices), there is a technique for displaying information of a user(s) (such as an administrating user and/or a user in use) of an image-forming device in a display unit of a main body of this image-forming device (see FIG. 20 and FIG. 23 in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-80855, for example). With this, an operator of the image-forming device is notified of the information about the user(s) of this image-forming device.
However, in such a management system, the user information displayed in the display unit of the main body of the image-forming device is configured by a character string(s) usually indicating a personal name(s) of the user(s) (such as a user name(s)).
On the other hand, viewers of the user information displayed in the display unit of the main body of the image-forming device (operators of the image-forming device) may include a new employee of a company having this image-forming device installed in its office and a person sent from a department different from a department having this image-forming device installed in its office (different department). Such an information viewer might not know people in the department (or company) having this image-forming device installed in its office. In such a situation, the operator (information viewer) of this image-forming device cannot associate these people with names displayed by character strings in the display unit of the main body of the image-forming device. In other words, these names do not remind the operator of faces of the people.
Therefore, for example, in a situation where a failure occurs in the image-forming device, the operator of this image-forming device does not recognize who is the administrating user among the people around the image-forming device even if the operator views information displayed in the display unit of this image-forming device and learns the name of the administrating user. Accordingly, it is not easy for the operator to find out and make contact with the administrating user of this image-forming device in an appropriate manner. Similarly, in a situation where a paper problem such as a paper jam occurs in the image-forming device, it is not easy for the operator of this image-forming device to find out the executing user (user using the image-forming device) among the people around the image-forming device even if the operator views information displayed in the display unit of this image-forming device and learns the name of the executing user of the executed job (user using the image-forming device).
Such a situation may occur not only in a management system having image-forming devices as management target devices, but also in a management system having various types of devices as management target devices.